Control your Emotions
by HazySunray
Summary: Kakashi teaches Naruto how to deal with his emotions the hard way. The only way to be a proper teacher is through rough love.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: no owning of Naruto.

"Naruto, control your emotions."

The boy with the blonde hair halted mid-growl, still glaring at the Hyuuga boy. It was unfair to him, how he could just lecture Hinata like that, even though he was in the wrong. And then to call ihim/i a dropout! That Neji kid just crossed the line!

"HE's the one at fault here!" Naruto spat.

Kakashi sighed. It was always like this with Naruto. The boy had the temper of a pup that got beaten one too many times.

"I don't care. You shouldn't, either. This isn't your fight. Get back to Sasuke and Sakura."

Naruto seemed too bewildered to be able to speak.

Kakashi quirked a brow. "Well?"

Naruto looked like he was about to explode. "Not my fight?" he repeated.

i And I've unleashed hell, /i Kakashi thought.

Naruto was about to snap at the jounin, but upon noticing the expression on the man's face, he swallowed his words and exhaled gravely. "Fine."

Kakashi took a breath as well, grateful that Naruto didn't make a big show in front of all these people. It would make the whole team look like hormonal brats who just can't keep their mouths shut when they need to.

But then Neji smirked, and Kakashi wanted to smack the Hyuuga for it, knowing full-well what Naruto would do if the other genin would produce as much as a sound. If he went 'Hn' the way Sasuke always did, there was absolutely no way to hold the jinchuuriki back, anymore.

"Let's go, Naruto." Kakashi turned around and started walking away. "Before this results in embarressment."

Kakashi couldn't see it, but Naruto looked down at the ground, feeling disappointed with himself.


	2. Control your Emotions 2

Disclaimer: no owning of Naruto

"Calm DOWN, Naruto," Kakashi ordered, pinching the boy's elbow in his steel grip.

Finally, Naruto stopped beating the hell out of the already-dead enemy-nin. The body underneath him could barely be identified as human, at this point.

"He called us trash. That makes him trash. Simple as that."

Kakashi let go of him, appearing to be shocked at the boy's words. "It's not because somebody thinks you're trash that they're trash, Naruto. You thought the same about him, does that make you trash?"

"Only cos he started it!"

The jounin held the bridge of his nose, sighing gravely. The boy sounded like a toddler to his ears. "Next time, a clean cut across the neck would do just fine."

"Not with people like him!" Naruto bit back. "People like him deserve to be killed a million times over!"

The blonde's words made Kakashi wonder just what had banged Naruto's head up so much. 'People like him', did that mean people that killed others? That was precisely what they were doing. The boy just killed a man, right at the spot where he was presently still located, all by himself. Well, with Sasuke's help, but he did most of the fist-to-fist fighting.

"If people like him deserve to be killed a million times over, then we deserve to be killed a hundred million times over. He was only acting out of respect for his village."

"He was acting out of pathetic killer intent!" Naruto growled, absolutely pissed-off. "People like him deserve to go to hell!"

"Quiet down. You need to tone down a little, Naruto. Ninja are not allowed to show any emotion."

Those words seemed to infuriate Naruto even more, though. But the boy bit his tongue and glared at the dead man beneath him, a defeated aura swarming around his short frame.

"Yes, master," he replied, bitterly.


	3. Control your Emotions 3

Disclaimer: no owning of Naruto

"Damn it, Naruto! Don't you have any sense of self-control?"

"And what about HIM?" Naruto growled, pointing at Sasuke.

"Do you see Sasuke accumulating massive amounts of chakra by the second?" Kakashi demanded.

Naruto had to admit that it was a fact that he was the one calling on the Kyuubi, but Sasuke asked for it. He'd called him an idiotic good-for-nothing loser one too many times, and it was time for Naruto to show Sasuke exactly what he was made of. If only to teach him a lesson. But it was Naruto who wound up being taught a lesson, and not by Sasuke, which only caused the Uchiha to mock him even more by smirking the way he did.

"AARGH!" Naruto roared, so irritated by that self-certain, pricky smile of the raven's. "I'm gonna shove your foot up your mouth!" he anounced, ready to pound his teammate, but Kakashi grabbed him by the neck, digging his nails into the skin. He'd gotten absolutely isick/i of Naruto's attitude and disobedience.

"bControl your emotions/b," he ground out.

Naruto pinched his eyes shut, wanting to raise his hands to his neck and try to make his master stop, but was too pride-centered to do so. Naruto couldn't say anything, afraid it would come out high-pitched.

"Sasuke, stop grinning."

The knowledge that Sasuke's grin must've broadened even more at the sight of him being scolded like that, made Naruto's anger boil. He balled his hands into fists, ready to ram one in the Uchiha's face, but the pressure on his neck increased and he had to bite his lip to keep from uttering a sound of pain.

"Control your temper."

Naruto forced his shoulders to drop, even though they started shaking with the urge to rise again, as an automatic reaction. Finally, Kakashi released him.

"The two of you have a lot to learn about comraderie. Think about that." And then, the jounin disappeared.

Naruto rubbed his neck, able to feel the marks in his skin where Kakashi's fingernails had been.

"Hn," Sasuke went, turning around and leaving, filled with pride.

"Tch," was Naruto's response as he stared at the ground.


	4. Control your Emotions 4

Disclaimer: No owning of Naruto

"Naruto, calm down, we need to think of a strategy before we ch-" but the blonde jinchuuriki had already jumped onto the limb of a tree, chasing their enemy. Naruto knew he should've waiting for his master's explanation, but the enemy was fast and tricky; if they didn't act now, they would lose him.

Naruto could sense the enemy nearby and stopped, making sure not to make a sound as he glanced around for a sign of the middle-aged thug. Kakashi suddenly landed on the treelimb beside him, tailed by Sasuke and Sakura who'd both hidden themselves in different trees, so that when the enemy took off again, they could capture him.

When the enemy did flee, Naruto wanted to jump after him, but suddenly felt an immense pain in his head, and saw Sasuke and Sakura take off to go after the man. It took him another second to realise it was his scalp that hurt so badly, and another two seconds to realise that the cause for that was that somebody was pulling agressively at his hair. And that somebody was his master.

"What don't you get about 'calm down'?" Kakashi demanded to know, though he did appear to be his leisure self.

"He's right out there! If we're fast, we can-"

"I don't give a crap, Naruto! As long as you can't control your emotions, you're useless as a ninja!"

He gave the blonde another harsh tug at his hair and Naruto yelped softly, even though he was in serious pain at the moment. He felt strands of hair loosen and unattach themselves from his scalp.

"I'm not useless!" Naruto protested.

Kakashi sighed. "You are when you're unable to control yourself."

"You keep saying that to me! I'm just the only one who shows it! Sasuke and Sakura get pissed, too!"

"Yes, Naruto, that's what controlling means." Sometimes the jounin just couldn't get over the boy's oblivion.

"Tch!"

Kakashi shook the hair in his grasp harshly, putting the boy back in his place, before releasing him.

"Don't let it happen again," the silver-haired man lectured, before jumping through the foliage to catch up with the other two Genin.

When the man was well out of sight, Naruto rubbed at his head, staring at the treebark at his feet. "I can't help it.." he muttered.


	5. Control your Emotions 5

Disclaimer: no owning of Naruto

iOh no/i, Kakashi thought, seeing a vein pulse and throb in Naruto's neck.

"What do you mean; 'Don't go after Sasuke'?" the boy growled.

Tsunade sighed. "He's chosen a different path. He'll be reported as a missing-nin, and more experienced ninja will retrieve him."

"More-experienced?" Naruto repeated, outraged.

"Yes, Naruto. Believe it or not, you're still a Genin. If I send a couple of jounin to get Sasuke, the job would be done much sooner and there would be less casualties. I'm sorry to tell you this, but the people who are with Sasuke at the moment are out of your league."

Naruto's blood boiled and his earlobes turned red with barely-contained anger.

"Naruto," Kakashi warned the Genin, hoping his tone would remind him of the other times he'd failed to control his emotions.

The teen turned around and exited the Hokage mansion, too pissed-off to think straightly.

"My sincere apologies, Hokage-sama," the jounin excused his student, bowing to Lady Tsunade.

She dismissed his behavior with the wave of a hand. "He's a hot-head, Kakashi. We really should do something about that, before he gets himself killed."

i Before he gets the rest of us killed /i, Kakashi mused in response, but didn't voice his thoughts since he was aware of the fact that Tsunade was fond of the blonde. But that didn't mean she would stay that way, forever. Kakashi had to make sure Naruto stayed on her good side before none of them got any missions, anymore. At least, until their short team-mate would get on her good side, again.

When the boy was at the front gates of Konoha, he was surprised to find Kakashi zip from a random rooftop and land in front of him, arms crossed across his chest.

"I hope you're not thinking of following through with an idea that was utterly rejected and thought of simply through blind rage," he warned the jinchuuriki.

"Master, he's your student, too," Naruto insisted. "We can't just let him go!"

"Indeed, we can't."

"Then what?"

"Then we calm down. And think. And come up with a plan."

Naruto seemed pleased with the answer.


	6. Control your Emotions 6

Disclaimer: no owning of Naruto

A red cloak of chakra enveloped Naruto's frame as the boy roared in bitter hatred. His eyes were blood-red and his mind was still swarmed with images of his dead comrade. Gaara had meant a lot to Naruto, and to see people as low as these Akatsuki members smile and laugh about the fact that they'd just killed the redhead, made his insides burn like acid rising up in his throat. His head was in chaotic turmoil, and all he wanted was to get back at the two men.

"Naruto! Wait!" Kakashi ordered, but the blonde pushed on, ignoring his master's words, or simply not hearing them.

Kakashi growled despite himself and set off after the Genin.

When he'd finally caught up to him, he trapped the boy in the crook of his arm, grabbing a fistful of skin as he went, anger flashing in his visible eye. Naruto's shocked red orbs met Kakashi's black one and the jounin suddenly realised.

It was the Kyuubi that constantly fueled his anger. Naruto contained the nine-tailed-beast's bitterness.

"Calm yourself," he demanded.

Naruto looked up innocently, like he really hadn't done a wrong. He didn't really, though. All he did was disobey his master about a small, trivial thing. It's just that it always happened. He never listened. He was disobedient and wild. It was true that he was the number one most unexpected ninja thanks to that, but that also meant that he could just unexpectedly die on them, or be the cause for them all to die. And Kakashi didn't want that to happen.

Naruto saw the disappointment in Kakashi's eye, the anger and the degrading. Naruto despised the latter. He despised people who believed they were better than him. He never thought that way. He never said that he was better than another. And he expected others to return the favour and treat him the same way.

When Kakashi caught sight of the teen's rage, he pinched the blonde's skin harder, sort of relieved when he saw the boy grit his teeth. It meant he realised he had to calm down, for better or for worse, if he wanted to continue their battle with Akatsuki.

And yet, it took another twenty leaps over the horizontal beams that lead the way to the one who'd mounted a gigantic clay-bird, before Naruto finally looked down and calmed himself the way Kakashi'd ordered him to. The jounin let the boy go, feeling the cramp in his hand when he tried to reopen it.

Naruto hated the way Kakashi looked down on him simply because he believed in protecting his comrades.


	7. Control your Emotions 7

Disclaimer: no owner of Naruto

Jiraiya had died. Everybody was grieving. Except the only person who was truly allowed to at this very moment. Instead, he was busy training in the dojo, kicking and punching a training-dummy. He swatted away its wooden arms, causing them to twist around and swirl back to their original place, but he simply kicked them away again. Over and over and over again, he kicked and punched repeatedly, a thin film of perspiration gleeming on his forehead.

Kakashi walked up to him. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" the boy replied, kicking at the dummy again. "I'm training."

"You know what I mean, Naruto."

The teen (who had grown far too rapidly in such a short amount of time that it was scary) turned around to face his master, glaring at him.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" the jounin repeated after a short while of silence.

"Controlling my emotions," Naruto bit back, returning to the training-dummy.

Kakashi sighed. He never wanted this to happen. He didn't want Naruto to be calm and unemotional in moments of sorrow. But what was he saying? If this were the battlefield, and real people Naruto was fighting, he would want the boy to be anything ibut/i emotional. Most likely, the Naruto he used to know, would turn his sorrow into anger and take it out on the enemy without thinking clearly. This Naruto was realistically cynical and distrusting of his own master.

"Right now, you don't nee-"

"Save it," Naruto spat.

Kakashi figured it was just him being sad about Jiraiya's death and taking his frustrations out on his master, but it still bothered him somewhat.

"It's alright to be grieving right now, Naruto." Kakashi put a hand on the teen's shoulder, causing the boy's shoulders to instinctively go up, tensing.

"Ninja don't need to grieve. Ninja need to think straightly," Naruto repeated the academy's rehearsed words and it sort of panged at Kakashi's heart to believe that he truly felt this way. Unruly, unbreakable Naruto, feeling like there simply was no place for grief in a ninja's world.


	8. Control your Emotions 8

Disclaimer: no owner of Naruto

Seventeen-year-old Naruto was shaking, bitter anger and resent sinking through his pores, his body exuding a terrible, monstreous chakra. His hands were balled into fists, shaking, bone-white and on the verge of cracking someone's jaw.

Kakashi put a hand on both his shoulders, trying to still his emotions by letting him know he was still on the battlefield.

"Naruto, calm now."

It wasn't calm idown/i, but it also wasn't 'I understand; go ahead and kill someone'. It wasn't enough.

"Naru-Naruto," he repeated when the boy jerked away, putting him back in place. Tears were glinting in the teen's eyes, but more from rage that came from sorrow than sorrow itself. The jinchuuriki gazed at the broken buildings, once majestically tall, now one with the ground. Bits of torn-down homes were still on fire, bodies were scattered everywhere, trapped underneath ashes and rubble. Children were crying and bleeding, babies limbless and dead. Corpses of mothers who tried to protect their children covering their kids who died anyway. Shinobi were hanging dead from trees, atop split roofs, underneath crushed parts of the mountain... The Hokage's stone faces had all come crashing down, like a rush of lava, destroying the hospital and all its patients.

"Calm down, focus on me."

But it wasn't enough, the jinchuuriki's chakra was leaking; he was ready to fight. He was on the verge of letting go of all control, of letting the Kyuubi take over, just to make Sasuke suffer for what he's done.

"Naruto. Focus."

Sakura appeared in view, not unharmed but not as badly injured as the larger amount of Konoha's population. At the sight of his teammate who was still alive, Naruto's rage stilled a little, replaced by relief. But the buildings behind Sakura, those he came to know so well, that he could identify them and tell you who lived where and if they had children or not and if they were ninja or not and-

He felt a hand under his chin, making him look at the sole visible eye of his teacher.

"Focus."

Naruto did.

Kakashi loosened his grip on the boy's shoulder when he felt the monstreous chakra residing within the blonde's body, slowly ebb away. When Naruto's red eyes turned blue again, the jounin let go of him completely and nodded.

Naruto, who was still at a loss for what to do, simply nodded back.


End file.
